Combined Degree and Physician Scholar Programs

Welcome Penn Med students!

If you have an interest in conducting research during medical school, you've come to the right place! This website has been designed to help students navigate the many research options available. The most frequent scenarios are:

Summer Research:
Medical students typically choose to do research
between the first and second year of Medical School, though this does not count
as credit toward graduation. For more information, check out Information Gathering and Applying for Programs/Funding webpages. Planning ahead is always advised; these programs
can be very competitive.

Scholarly Pursuit:
Medical students, not enrolled in a Combined
Degree program, will engage in some form of research for a minimum of three
months to fulfill their Scholarly Pursuit
requirement in Module 5. Some students will choose to do a full year of
research.

Year Out Research:
Medical students who have completed their third
year of Medical School may opt to take a Year Out to conduct elective research.
For more information, check out Information Gathering and Applying for Programs/Funding webpages.
Planning ahead is always advised; these programs can be very competitive.

MD/plus Master's Degree:
Medical students may choose to pursue a
master's degree in addition to their MD. Our formal dual degree programs provide an opportunity for students to get an additional degree in less time with less cost than pursuing the 2 degrees separately. However, in some cases, students choose to pursue a Master's degree outside Penn. Information on the options available at Penn, including application
information and procedures can be viewed at: http://www.med.upenn.edu/educ_combdeg/.

MD/PhD:
Those who would like to commit to a substantial training
period and who are committed to a research career can apply for the MD/PhD
program in their 1st or 2nd year of Medical School. For more information, visit: http://www.med.upenn.edu/mstp/.

The main objective of a research program is to provide medical students with the opportunity to:

Familiarize themselves with research methodology and techniques

Work with faculty mentors who are experts in their field

Experience designing and following through on their own research plan

Penn Med is a great place to achieve this objective and to explore your research interests. For more information on next steps, check out the following webpages: